Adjustment of Status

By Editorial Team , 2 July 2007

USCIS "is rejecting applications to adjust status (Form I-485)" for all non-current categories under the NEW July Visa Bulletin

As a result of the State Department updating its July 2007 Visa Bulletin on July 2, 2007, declaring all Employment-based preference categories to be unavailable, the USCIS has now announced that it "is rejecting applications to adjust status (Form I-485) filed by aliens whose priority dates are not current under the revised July Visa Bulletin."  The USCIS Press Release is as follows:

By Editorial Team , 16 December 2006

Chargeability: how to determine which country’s quota you will be counted under for green card purposes.

What chargeability means. Chargeability is the rule that decides which country’s annual allotment of immigrant visas your case is counted against. Most green card categories are capped twice over, once worldwide and again for each individual country, so the chargeability area assigned to you is what determines which queue you stand in and how long that queue is. The governing provisions are 8 U.S.C. § 1152 and the Department of State regulation that implements it, 22 C.F.R. § 42.12.

Advance Parole

Overview. Advance parole is permission obtained before leaving the United States to be paroled back in on return. It is requested from USCIS on Form I-131, now titled the Application for Travel Documents, Parole Documents, and Arrival/Departure Records, and if granted it produces an advance parole document. The device exists because certain applications pending with USCIS are treated as abandoned if the applicant simply departs, and because some applicants have no visa with which to return.

Work Authorization While an Adjustment of Status Application Is Pending

Two different permissions. Filing Form I-485 does not by itself authorize employment, and it does not by itself cancel employment authorization that already exists. Those are separate permissions with separate sources, and an adjustment applicant may hold one, both or neither. The question is therefore not whether an Employment Authorization Document has arrived, but which permission is being relied on at any given moment.

Adjustment of Status

What adjustment of status is. Adjustment of status is the procedure for becoming a permanent resident without leaving the United States. It is governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1255 and by the regulations at 8 C.F.R. part 245. The alternative is consular processing, in which the immigrant visa is issued at a post abroad and permanent residence begins on admission at a port of entry.